Recently in Rome, I was one of only 10 Americans present when Pope Leo XIV issued Magnifica Humanitas, the first encyclical of his pontificate. As the Holy Father unveiled what will likely become one of the defining moral texts on artificial intelligence, the convergence was hard to miss: on AI, the Catholic Church and much of the American populist Right share more common ground than most realize.
That conclusion would not surprise Vice President JD Vance. In May 2025, months before tensions between the Vatican and the Trump administration emerged, Vance told Ross Douthat that the U.S. government was “not equipped to provide moral leadership” on AI and that the Catholic Church was. With Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo has now offered that moral framework.
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Many will focus on the broad scope of Magnifica Humanitas. But on artificial intelligence, the Catholic Church and the American populist Right share a recognizable, politically useful framework. The vice president’s remarks, as well as recent comments from Holy See Ambassador Brian Burch “welcoming” Vatican input on AI, underscore this reality.
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Much of the encyclical’s framework will sound familiar to many American conservatives. Pope Leo warns that “scientific and technological advances, when detached from moral and social progress, end up turning against humanity.” He cautions that when efficiency becomes society’s ultimate measure of value, people begin to view themselves as projects to be optimized rather than as persons worthy of dignity. And he argues that while assistance may sometimes be necessary for workers displaced by technological change, the goal should always be meaningful work that allows people to support themselves and their families.
The pope’s rejection of transhumanism aligns with a growing skepticism of Silicon Valley’s utopian promises. Human beings cannot be optimized away, transcended, or reduced to a longtermist calculus. Families, workers, children, and local communities remain the moral subjects technology is meant to serve.
This vision already overlaps with emerging American AI policy. Consider the encyclical’s focus on children. Pope Leo warns that “early and unsupervised exposure to digital devices and social media can negatively impact sleep, attention span, control of emotions and relationships, especially during the most vulnerable stages of life, at times with tragic consequences.” He argues that legislators have a legitimate role in establishing safeguards and holding technology providers accountable.
Congress has begun moving in that direction through proposals such as the TRUMP AMERICA AI Act, which would establish a duty of care for AI developers with respect to minors, and the CHATBOT Act, which seeks to strengthen parental oversight and protections for children interacting with AI systems. More can be done, but these efforts reflect the same underlying concern: technological progress must not come at the expense of human development.
The encyclical also offers a powerful alternative to the Chinese Communist Party’s model of technological governance. Pope Leo warns that “neither the individual nor the family should be subsumed by the State”, and cautions against the social control made possible through mass data collection and algorithmic surveillance.
As the United States and its allies compete with the CCP to shape the future of AI, the Vatican provides something Beijing cannot: a moral vocabulary rooted in human dignity, subsidiarity, and the rule of law. Those principles offer a compelling foundation for democratic nations seeking to lead the world in AI development.
Of course, the pope and President Donald Trump will not agree on everything. Nor should they. The administration’s embrace of AI-enabled defense capabilities differs sharply from the pope’s calls for de-escalation and restraint. Likewise, the Vatican’s concerns about the concentration of wealth and power in the technology sector sit uneasily alongside a deregulatory agenda that has benefited many tech CEOs.
These aren’t fatal disagreements if the AI common ground remains in focus.
So what should Catholics — MAGA and otherwise — do now?
Catholics and policymakers should start by reading the encyclical itself rather than relying on summaries or reactions. More importantly, they should treat Magnifica Humanitas not as an abstract theological document but as a practical framework and run with it in legislation, Silicon Valley, and their local communities.
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The sooner the U.S. can rally the community of nations under the banner of human-centric, secure AI development — with the Holy See as a partner — the more likely we are to avoid a world running on CCP-driven technology. A world shaped by CCP-style technological governance would be the opposite of a “magnificent humanity.”
The future of AI will not be determined by computing power alone. It will be shaped by whether innovation is paired with a vision of the human person worth defending. In Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo has offered one. American policymakers should take him up on it.
Devan Patel (DevanPatel.com) is president of Crux Advisory Group, advising at the intersection of Washington, Silicon Valley, and Rome. He also serves as visiting fellow for tech ethics and democracy at the Rainey Center for Public Policy and as an adjunct professor of law at Notre Dame Law School. Opinions are his own.
